question any time that we re talking about domestic violence. why does anyone go back? the prosecutors hoped any doubt the jury may have regarding his guilt would be wiped away when they called their key witness to the stand. amy was working for smoot during that time. the impression of the nice outgoing man didn t last. why did it change? he was cold. he got angry easily. not satisfied really r. seemed like he enjoyed getting somebody riled up. in court, she testified about what happened the monday following brook s murder. on that day, did mr. smooth come into the office. he came in that morning when i saw him the first time. he didn t see me and he was crouched down under his desk.
unhooking his computer. i asked him if he was okay. and he said no. i asked him if there was anything i could do and he said turn back time. amy had already heard about the murder and that investigators had been to smoot s house. she told the jury what the defendant said next. at that point i asked him if he was directly or indirectly involved and he said both. did you take that as a total admission of guilt? absolutely. absolutely. it had taken nearly five years after brook s murder to get her alleged killer before a jury. it took the jury less than four hours to reach its verdict. we the jury find the defendant, shawn nelson smoot, guilty of premeditated first degree murder of brook nicole morris. what s the emotions you re feeling when you hear that word snoo. of course, we can t show emotion in court. what s going on in the
were you hoping that having the jury close their eyes like that would have a wour fupowerf impact. i wanted them to try to envision this young woman out in the middle of nowhere being shot three times by an angry man that she was afraid of. all goes silent. and at 23 years old, brook morris is dead. the jury sentenced smoot to life without the possibility of parole. he s appealing his conviction. that conviction and the sentence have provided comfort for brook s family but not closure. i can t make any more memories with her. the only memories i have are past memories. i mean, it s hard. she s always in my heart. she will always be in my heart. and we had i had 23 wonderful years with brook.